Notes: Alright, so first prompt request in this batch. Or not first one, just the first one I filled out because this one is really fun for me because oh my gosh I really love Lizard and I will take any excuse I can get to write her. That's the way to get your prompt sent straight to the top of my to do list. Send me a Lizard related prompt.
Prompt: Lizard's third wish didn't kill her but turned her into an actual lizard.
We're Not Running a Careless Genie Victim Rescue
"Don't you dare give me that look Alice. This isn't funny," Anastasia insisted, leading the two lovebirds back through the squalid village to the small apartment behind a flower shop. She stopped by the doorway, knowing better than to try and go any further.
"It is a bit funny Queen," Alice replied, turning the door knob. "Scared off the bottle by a small animal." Alice didn't know what she was dealing with. The damn thing was darting under her feet, tripping her up, rolling the bottle all over the room, hissing at her, and at one point, biting her when she attempted to get the bottle.
"It's not an animal, it's a demon," she said, looking into the room. It had the bottle under a trunk in the back corner, guarding its master's possession. They just had to get the bottle, find the damn homeowner, sentence them to a lifetime in the dungeon for poor pet training, and Will would be as safe as he could be.
Of course, Alice entered the room cavalier as could be. "I can smell the sulfur now," she said, turning around to give Anastasia a disbelieving look when nothing happened.
"It was hissing at me," she said. "And it wouldn't let me get anywhere near the bottle." And as if right on cue, the creature rolled the bottle right out in front of Alice's feet, obedient and happy to see her.
"Terrifying," Alice said, bending down to pick up the bottle. "You're a terrifying dragon aren't you?" The way she talked to the reptile, as if it were a puppy, was more than a bit off putting. "A real guard…" Alice paused for a moment, tilting her head to the side a bit, examining the animal crawling all over the bottle. "Lizard?" The lizard flicked its tongue out at her, as if in conformation. "Will, you dummy."
"Alice, to be fair, this isn't the worst thing I've seen djinn do," Cyrus said, walking over and kneeling down next to Alice. "Hello Elizabeth, I'm Cyrus." He held out his fingers to the animal and she shook hands, or claws, or whatever it was, with the former genie. "Alice has told me all about you. I hope you don't mind, but we're going to have to take Will with us."
The lizard looked to Anastasia and cocked its head, as if to ask a question.
"Don't worry about her," Alice said. "We're keeping an eye on her and she's not trying to kill us anymore." Of course Alice had to stop and reassure the lizard that she was of no threat. It must have worked though because it scampered off the bottle and up Alice's arm, onto her shoulder. "Would you like to come with us?" The lizard flicked its tongue.
"I take it we have a new companion then," Cyrus said, picking up the bottle.
"Need I remind you that we're up against Jafar and not running a careless genie victim rescue?" she said, eying the pair of them with not an insignificant amount of disbelief. It was going to be difficult enough with the four of them, and now they were all for adding somebody else into their group. She knew she sounded cruel, but she was only thinking logically. From what Alice told Cyrus, and then Cyrus told her, about the young woman pickpocketing the Tweedles, Lizard would probably be a useful asset as a human. Less so as an actual lizard.
"She kept you from getting the bottle, I think she's going to be more useful than you give her credit for," Alice said, walking by her and into the street. "Besides, she knows the hedge maze better than anybody and she wants to come with us."
"Fine," she said, following her and her boyfriend. "But just tell her she doesn't need to hiss at me."
"You do realize she can hear you and she's only doing that because the last time she saw you, you threatened to behead us?"
Anastasia sighed. It was one thing to gain Cyrus' partial trust. Evidently gaining that of Alice or her people was going to be another story entirely. "And I'm sorry for that. And for everything else I've done while I was Queen. I was a rotten ruler and my subjects deserved better." She almost couldn't believe she was apologizing to a lizard.
Lizard narrowed her eyes at her, appraising her statement, then flicked her tongue again in what was apparently going to be a universal gesture of approval.
"We should probably get going," Cyrus said, looking at the main street, still filled with partygoers. "And Anastasia, you should take this." He held out the bottle to her and upon noting the incredulous look his girlfriend gave him, added, "I have no desire to be a genie's master and you and Elizabeth have already used three wishes, and I can think of no one more qualified."
She couldn't help but smile at Cyrus as she gently took the bottle from him. It was small, or maybe not so small, but it meant that at least somebody believed that she could make a change. And she would. They would save Wonderland and she would work to make it better for its people.